‘Covid-free’ private hospital carrying out cancer ops in NHS partnership
PATIENTS GIVEN THE REASSURANCE TO STEP FORWARD FOR SURGERY
WITH hospitals busier than they have ever been due to the Covid pandemic, NHS and private services have been combining to help treat cancer patients.
More than 1,700 NHS patients have undergone urgent cancer surgery at BMI The Park Hospital since March last year as a result of a partnership with Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust.
The partnership, formed back at the start of the first lockdown, has continued throughout the pandemic to treat the city’s most urgent cancer cases.
It means cancer patients from Nottingham University Hospitals are transferred to BMI The Park independent hospital for their operations.
And some staff and consultants from the NHS have transferred with their patients to BMI The Park to provide continuity of care for NHS patients.
NUH, which runs the Queen’s Medical Centre and City Hospital, have been able to reallocate some of their most complex cancer surgery to the Park Hospital.
NHS patient Richard Hornby, 53, says his operation in December at BMI The Park Hospital has given him “a future”.
Mr Hornby was diagnosed with bowel cancer in June 2019 and underwent a combination of radiotherapy and chemotherapy to shrink the tumour.
It seemed at first that the urgent surgery he required following this treatment was to be postponed, but he was relieved to be given a date of December 1 at The Park Hospital under the care of NUH consultant Mr Abeed Chowdhury.
“To know that I was going to a smaller hospital because of Covid and everything you hear on the news, it was a relief to be going somewhere like The Park,” he said.
“I was in hospital for three weeks. The first week I was in intensive care and then for the second two weeks I had my own private room with an en-suite. This was fantastic as it gave me some privacy and I felt safe.
“I was tested for Covid before coming in for surgery and then every week during my stay. This was really reassuring.”
When asked what he would say to other patients waiting for similar procedures Mr Hornby said: “On June 16, 2019, I was told I had one to three years to live. Following this surgery I’m almost guaranteed to be cancer free. It has given me a future.
He urged: “Don’t stay at home getting more sick – going to hospital may save your life”.
For many patients the reassurance of going to a “Covid-free” hospital on a smaller scale has given them the confidence to have surgery.
In addition to the urgency to treat cancer patients, a proportion of the NHS elective work from both Nottingham University Hospitals and Sherwood Forest Hospital’s Trusts will also be undertaken at BMI The Park Hospital to alleviate growing waiting lists across other specialties.
Amanda Dorkes, executive director at BMI The Park Hospital, in Burntstump Park, Arnold, explained the priority process for patients.
“All patients are being treated in order of clinical priority; cancer of course comes at the top of this list but it has not been forgotten that there are many other patients in Nottingham living in debilitating pain or with conditions that are having a huge impact on both their physical and mental wellbeing.
“Alongside our colleagues in the NHS we are urging patients to seek medical advice if they have any concerns over their health.
“It is a growing concern that patients who have been listed for surgery and undertaken all the necessary preparations for their operation are choosing to cancel at short notice due to a concern over coming into hospital during this peak of the pandemic. For many of these patients they are literally risking their life by staying at home rather than coming for life-saving surgery.
“Due to the stringent processes prior to surgery to ensure The Park Hospital remains Covid-free their bed cannot simply be reallocated to another patient at such short notice and this is therefore having even greater repercussions.”
Dr Keith Girling, medical director of Nottingham University Hospitals, wrote to the team at BMI The Park Hospital at Christmas expressing the gratitude of his colleagues “for the tremendous support” they had “all provided to NHS patients and NUH teams through this really challenging year”.
“Through the collaborative work we have undertaken we have been able to provide care for a phenomenal number of patients,” he added.